During the so-called 'Golden Age of Piracy,' the pull of the Seven Seas and its immense wealth was too good to refuse for many.
From noblemen who became bloodthirsty captains to an Irish pirate queen, click or scroll on to discover the infamous pirates who pillaged and plundered their way to a fortune.
All figures courtesy of Forbes unless otherwise stated, with values adjusted for inflation to give you an idea of each pirate's wealth in today's money.
Born in 1697, Anne Bonny was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Irish lawyer. She eventually traveled to America and married a sailor in 1718. The couple later sailed to New Providence in the Bahamas, a piracy hotspot, where Bonny met the cutthroat pirate John Rackham. She promptly left her husband and joined his crew.
Known for her fiery temper, Bonny soon befriended fellow pirate Mary Read. In 1720, the duo led raids against fishing boats and trading sloops. The same year, Rackham's ship was captured and he was hanged with some of his crew. However, Bonny escaped death because she was pregnant. Her fate remains unknown.
According to several internet estimates, Bonny is believed to have plundered her way to a fortune of $1.5 million in today's money.
Anne Bonny's crewmate Mary Read was another legendary pirate. The bloodthirsty buccaneer had a thirst for adventure, assuming the identity of a man – Mark Read – so she could work as a soldier and merchant seaman. She joined John Rackham's pirate ship crew in the late 1710s.
Like many other pirates, Read met a tragic end. Although she and Bonny, both pregnant, avoided being hanged after the seizure of Rackham's ship, Read eventually died in prison from a fever.
Before her untimely death, internet estimates suggest she too had amassed a fortune the equivalent of $1.5 million in today's money.
Jamaican pirate captain James Martel is said to have had a respectable job at the beginning of his sea career – as a privateer during the War of the Spanish Succession. But like many other privateers of the time, Martel turned to piracy.
Considered ruthless even by his own men, he was eventually deposed as captain by a pirate named Kennedy. In 1717 the fleet was surprised by HMS Scarborough, and Martel’s ultimate fate is unknown.
Believed to have been active as a pirate for five years, Martel's fortune in today's money was around $2.1 million.
Towards the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, English pirate captain John Rackham – more commonly known as Calico Jack – was operating in the Bahamas and Cuba between 1718 and 1720.
His speciality was plundering small ships close to shore, and he's remembered for having two female crew members, the previously mentioned Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
In December 1719, he captured the merchant ship Kingston and made it his flagship. In 1720, the Bahamas’ Governor Woodes Rogers issued a proclamation for Rackham and his crew. Rackham was eventually caught and was hanged for his crimes in Port Royal on November 18, 1720.
He's estimated to have plundered a fortune equivalent to $2.1 million in today's money.
Captain Edward "Ned" Low was a notorious English pirate who plied his trade towards the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Born into poverty in London around 1690, he was a thief from an early age and eventually moved to America for a better life.
But the tragic loss of his wife is said to have pushed him towards the world of piracy.
Low and his pirate crew are said to have captured a hundred ships during his prolific but short career. Most were looted and burned, but Low often kept notable vessels, including an 80-ton schooner named Fancy.
Low's reputation for violence and brutality added to his notoriety but eventually proved to be his downfall. The warship HMS Greyhound was dispatched to finish Low’s reign of terror once and for all, and it's believed he was left marooned on an island following a crew mutiny. Low is thought to have plundered his way to the equivalent of $2.5 million in today's money.
Another Englishman to add to the list of pirate captains, Charles Vane preyed upon English and French ships in and around the West Indies. His navigating and ship combat skills were said to be unmatchable.
He was also known for his cruelty, often torturing and killing sailors from the vessels he captured.
Vane began his piracy career under the command of Henry Jennings, but by 1717 he was commanding his own vessels and was one of the leaders of the Republic of Pirates in Nassau. He was captured in 1718 and pledged to turn his back on a life of crime in return for a King's Pardon. Within months he returned to pirating with a vengeance.
His downfall began in February 1719 when he was caught in a storm and marooned on an uncharted island. Discovered by a passing British ship, he was arrested and eventually tried and hanged in March 1721. His criminal deeds saw him amass the equivalent of $3.3 million in today's money.
Stede Bonnet’s background differs to that of many other pirates on our list. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family in Barbados and was sometimes called 'The Gentleman Pirate' because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to crime.
Despite inheriting his family's estate, Bonnet turned to piracy in the spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel which he named the Revenge, and traveled with his crew along the Eastern Seaboard, capturing other vessels and burning Barbadian ships.
Bonnet was wounded en route to Nassau and temporarily ceded control of his ship to the infamous pirate Blackbeard. A lucrative collaboration began. In September 1717, Revenge – captained by Blackbeard – plundered the sloop Betty, which was full of Madeira wine. The pair later captured and looted merchant ships, including the Spofford and Sea Nymph.
Despite amassing a fortune equivalent to $6.4 million in today's money, Bonnet could not escape his fate. He was hanged in South Carolina in December 1718.
Welsh pirate Howell Davis had possibly one of the shortest piratical careers, lasting just 11 months from July 1718 to June 1719, when he was shot dead on the island of Principe.
His exploits began when the ship he was serving on, the Cadogan, was captured by Edward England off the coast of Sierra Leone. Davis joined the pirates and was given control of the vessel. However, a mutiny eventually saw him deposed and he served a brief prison term in Barbados. On his release, he returned to piracy.
Davis preferred ruses, tricks, and deception to brute force, making him a cunning adversary. One of his greatest hauls was the capture of a Dutch ship with the Governor of Acra on board. The ship was carrying more than £15,000, in addition to other precious cargo.
Davis was plotting to kidnap the governor of the Portuguese island of Príncipe when he was killed in an ambush. He's thought to have accumulated a fortune in the region of $6.4 million in 2024 money.
Edward Teach, famously known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated out of the West Indies. Little is known of his early life, but he's believed to have kicked off his piracy career in 1716 under the tutelage of Captain Benjamin Hornigold.
Following his collaboration with Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard captured the large French slave ship La Concorde in 1717. He renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, loaded her with 40 guns and a crew of over 300 men and began his reign of terror.
Known for his fearsome appearance – he reportedly tied lit matches to his beard to frighten his enemies – Blackbeard spurned the use of violence, relying instead on his cunning and intellect.
He was eventually killed by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the British Royal Navy following a battle off the North Carolina coast. Blackbeard’s infamous hidden treasure has never been found, despite the efforts of many treasure hunters. Anyone who does stumble upon it is in for a pleasant surprise. Blackbeard's fortune in today's money is somewhere in the region of $17.7 million.
Jean Fleury was one of the first pirates to ply his trade in the Caribbean. The French privateer is perhaps best known for successfully raiding two of the three Spanish galleons carrying the Aztec treasure of Hernán Cortés from Mexico to Spain in 1522, one of the earliest recorded acts of piracy.
During his pirate career, Fleury looted over 30 Spanish and Portuguese ships and his hauls were astounding. They included everything from gold, exotic animals, and beautiful ornaments to pearls, Aztec art, and other New World treasures. His fortune is estimated at a staggering $44.6 million in today's money.
Like most pirates, his career and life ended prematurely, and he was hanged for his crimes in Toledo, Spain. However, his successful exploits prompted other countries to hire privateers to search the Caribbean for easy Spanish targets.
Bartholomew Roberts was a Welsh pirate who raided ships off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. Measured by vessels captured, he was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy with more than 400 ships seized.
Black Bart, as he eventually came to be known, is credited with creating his own pirate code and adopting an early version of the infamous skull and crossbones flag. His exploits made him a popular subject for writers at the time and he retains a place in popular culture to this day.
He eventually met his end in 1722 when he was killed by a grapeshot (a tightly packed bag of ammunition) through the throat in battle. His prolific plundering earned him a fortune equivalent to $45.3 million in today's money.
English privateer-turned-pirate Thomas Tew, also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, embarked on only two significant voyages of piracy, meeting a grisly end on his second journey.
However, he pioneered the route known as the Pirate Round, which many other famous pirates subsequently followed.
In 1693, Tew and his crew sailed to the Red Sea, where they attacked and took control of an Indian ship carrying treasures worth millions in today's money.
Tew then plundered his way to a huge haul of gold and diamonds on his final venture, but was ultimately unable to enjoy the spoils. In 1695 he was mortally wounded by a cannon shot during an attack on a 25-ship Mughal convoy.
British navigator Francis Drake was known as Britain’s most feared 'Sea Dog,' a ruthless privateer who preyed on Spanish shipping in the New World. Although his knighthood was a reward for completing history’s second circumnavigation, the actual details of his voyage are a little more scandalous.
He had a secret agreement with Queen Elizabeth I to raid Spanish shipping. For several months, he plundered unsuspecting galleons and sacked ports along the Chilean and Peruvian coasts. In 1579, Drake seized his biggest prize – the Spanish treasure ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción – and took a dozen chests of coins, 80 pounds of gold and 26 tonnes of silver. This made him the world’s richest pirate at the time.
From 1570 until his dying day, Drake was public enemy number one to the Spanish. He was branded a pirate and nicknamed 'El Draque' (the Dragon). A bounty of 20,000 ducats was offered for Drake’s head, the equivalent of several million dollars today.
In 1595, Drake set off on a final voyage across the West Indies. He contracted dysentery on the way and died at sea in January 1596. His body was placed in full armor, sealed in a lead coffin, and buried at sea. In today's money, Drake's fortune was somewhere in the region of a staggering $162 million.
And now to the highest-earning pirate in history. Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy was an Englishman who made his fortune around the New England coast in the 18th century.
His greatest accomplishment was his capture of a slave ship called the Whydah, which is said to have held more than four and a half tons of silver and gold. As a captain, he inspired loyalty in his crew, and they affectionately called him 'Robin Hood of the Sea' and labeled themselves 'Robin Hood’s Men.'
During his relatively brief pirating career, Bellamy and his crew captured at least 53 ships. But the great pirate captain met a tragic end. In 1717, the Whydah was swept up in a violent storm off Cape Cod. The heavily loaded ship capsized and quickly sank, taking Black Sam and all but two of the 145-man crew into the deep waters.
Finally, a pirate whose fortune is unknown but whose exploits are legendary. Born into a life of piracy, Grace O'Malley was the fabled Pirate Queen of Ireland, heading a fleet of 20 pirate ships in the 16th century.
From raiding English and Spanish vessels to seizing Irish castles, her criminal deeds were infamous – it's even said she went into battle just hours after giving birth. In 1574, O'Malley was captured and spent 18 months behind bars.
O'Malley was captured again in the 1590s. Acting as a weak old woman who wished to retire, she petitioned Queen Elizabeth I directly for her freedom and the release of her sons, who were also pirates. Her scheme worked.
After her release, O'Malley continued to plunder and loot with her sons until she died in 1603. Her exact fortune is unknown, but it's reported that she stashed a massive nine tons of treasure in a hidden location.
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